trippin around the world with Aly & Beth

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Uluwatu Temple

So, living in North Carolina, and spending a month every summer in Ormond Beach, Florida while growing up, has me a little spoiled as far as beaches go. So, I felt a little guilty about my disappointment with Sanur. The water was a little clearer, the sand was a little whiter, the waves were a little gentler, but it just wasn’t different enough to be a wow. Poor me, right?

As an aside, I mentioned to our driver that I wanted to see some big surfer waves and the most beautiful beaches of Bali, but that I assumed we didn’t have enough time to get to such a location on our last full day in Bali. He thought differently, and suggested he take us to the temple at Uluwatu and afterwards to some of the beaches in that area. We would see cliffside ocean vistas, the temple on the cliff top, and big surf.

Well, I got what I needed with those suggestions…some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been… will finish this post with the temple itself…

Uluwatu is a Hindu temple on the southern coast of Bali on cliffs overlooking the Indian Ocean. It is one of a group of temples said to protect Bali from evil spirits. The internets says it was built in the 10th century. It also says it was built in the 11th century. And it also says it was built in the 16th century…

Climbing up the steps towards the top allows you to meet many different stone creatures, each of them having a more beautiful view than the previous one of the cliffs and waves crashing below

Uluwatu Temple view – tada!

The Uluwatu Temple at the top of the cliff

The yummy color of Uluwatu waves, 250 ft down

there are monkeys at the top…lots of them. They are all running around being cute, except they will steal your hat, your sunglasses, your food. they will not hesitate. We saw one monkey steal some sunglasses and then put them on and sit and pose for photos…hilarious (unless they are your glasses).

I got really close to this little dude. He was cool with it, and then he let me know he wasn’t cool anymore. He got up and gave me a look right into the lens that said, “Outta my face or I take that!” Needless, to say, I backed off…

Here we are, enjoying the beauty of Uluwatu Temple.

We were fortunate, and got to the temple before the masses showed up. We had to share a little bit, but not too much… Can definitely see why a temple was put here…the absolute beauty of the natural surroundings is the perfect spiritual foundation.